Mersin is coincidentally my last stop in my trip throughout southern Turkey. Snowstorms a little bit north are preventing me from seeing the main tourist attraction in central Anatolia, Cappadocia. That’s fine as I’ve told everyone that has been helping me out throughout my travels, I have just discovered the shell that makes up Turkey and its history; discovering the wealth within will take several visits to these same locations.
What a pleasant last stop Mersin ended up being for me. Where the sun shined brightly and the heat caused me on several occasions to leave my jacket in the car, Mersin was the relaxing city that I was apparently yearning for. While I was engulfed in walking every city from head to toe and getting drained of energy in the meantime, in Mersin, I sat by the Mediterranean sea drinking a couple of beers with a new found friend overlooking a rather marvelous site. In the middle of the sea was a castle: The Maiden Castle. As the legend goes, this castle was built by a king to isolate his daughter from a curse that was placed on her. He believed she would be safe all by herself on the island from the venomous snake that was meant to kill her. One day, a fruit basket is delivered to her, and the venomous snake pops out of it and kills her anyway. With a South beach like shore to go along with the castle made for wonderful view. I took off from there and head a couple kilometers west to what is known as the heaven and hell caves.
Greek mythology plays an important role in the naming of these caves. The 100 headed dragon, Typhon, traps Zeus in the cave of heaven. With the help of Hermes, Zeus escapes, battles Typhon, and traps it in the cave of hell until he puts it in its final resting place, which is Mt. Etna. Let me be very honest with you, the titles throughout history must have been switched for the two caves, because after touring the “heaven” cave, I felt like I had just gone through hell. While the hell cave was to steep to be toured, the heaven cave offered 450 steps to the inside to the cave. The interior of the cave was very intriguing with the sound of rushing water below your feet, and the sound of bats being disturbed by our presence. It was the climbing of the 450 steps that made this voyage to heaven hell. The fact is, these steps were created for Zeus, so each step was rather large and unentertaining for a person that is out of shape like I am. It was worth it though. With an hour left till my train took off to the airport at an hour distance away, my friend floored the gas pedal and we were off. We came in 40 minutes, and because we had time, my friend decided to squeeze in the local cuisine which is a sandwich call Tantuni. We reached the trained as it started, and I jumped on the train just in time so that I could get on my flight back to Istanbul.
Mersin benim guney bolgesinde son duragam olacak. Ic anadoludaki kar yagislar Kapadokya’ya gitmemi engelliyor. Artik guneyin diyer ilcelerin kabugunu oymak baska bir gune kaldi. Ama Mersin benim tam istedigim son durak oldu. Megersi ben gunes ve deniz ozlemisim. Akdeniz kenarinda, gunes de tepemde, yeni buldugum arkadasla birlikte kizkalesine gittik. Suyun ortasinda duran kalesinin karsisinda iki bira icip, manzara karsinda keyif cattik. Kalenin efsanesi entersan bilmeyenler icin. Sekiz yuz once bir kral kizini bedduadan korumak icin bu kaleye kapatiyor. Boylece onu isirmasi gereken yilandan uzak kalmis oluyor. Ama birgun meyve sepeti geliyor ve icinden yilan firlayip kizi isiriyor. Eee…kaderle oynamamak gerek. Buradan tekrar arabaya binip iki kilometre ilerdeki cennet cehennem magaralara gittik. Cehennem magarasina bir ucurumun tepesinden bakiyorsun. Asil dolasma cennet magarasinda oluyor, ve dolasminin sonunda, perisanliktan dolayi bedduani cennet magarasina okuyorsun. Ama ne kadar formsuz olsamda o 450 basamagi inip ve tekrar cikmaga deger. Magaranin tam girisinde bir kilise bulunuyor. Onu gectikten sonra, bir anda gunduz isigi kesiliyor, ve karsinda bir magara agizi kaliyor. Magarinin icinde su sesi rahatlatiyor, ama tepeden de bizden rahatsizlanmis yarasalarin sesleri de biraz heycan katiyor. Bu magaralarin efsanesi daha da enteresan. Zeus, 100 kafali Typhon ejderine karsi yenilip, cennet magarisina kapatiliyor. Hermes gelip Zeus’i kurtariyor. Zeus da ejderle tekrar savasip bu sefer galip geliyor ve ejderi cehennem magarasina hapsediyor. Ilerki zamanda ise Zeus Typhonu Etna dagasinin altina gomuyor. Bunlari gordukten sonra bir saatlik mesafedeki Mersin trenime bir saat kalmisdi. Arkadas gaza basip beni kirk dakikada getirdi. Ama bu sefer zaman kaldi diye Mersin’in yoresel yemegini yeme geregi duyduk ve tren ne zaman hareket etmeye hazirlandiki, bende o zaman bineverdim.
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